MWPMS NAMES DAVID COOK NEW RACE DIRECTOR

Wed, 2017-09-13 08:00

The Mid-West Pro Mod Series (MWPMS), based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, announced that it has named David “Cookie” Cook as its new race director. Cook also will oversee all track preparation efforts for the growing eighth-mile drag racing organization that typically appears as a supplemental draw for each host track’s regularly scheduled special events.

“I’m pretty excited about this,” Cook said. “There are a lot of race teams based in this part of the country but there’s not a lot of national touring series that come over this far, so I think the Mid-West Pro Mod Series really fills a void. It’s already well on its way to becoming one of the best Pro Mod series in the country and I’m ready to do whatever I can to help it get there as soon as possible.”

Cook, a highly experienced track prep specialist for Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park (TRP), previously held a similar position with the American Drag Racing League and Professional Drag Racers Association. He also travels annually to the Middle East to fill a similar role during the winter drag racing season in Qatar.

“We could not have found anyone better suited than Cookie to take on this job. He’s done a great job at Tulsa Raceway Park the last few years, he’s known as the best track prep guy in the country, and he’s an NHRA-certified tech inspector,” Mid-West Pro Mod Series founder and TRP co-owner Keith Haney stated. “This is the first time he’s officially taking on the race director’s job, but I have a-hundred-percent confidence that his knowledge and abilities are going to make him an equally great race director. So all race-day decisions for the Mid-West Pro Mod Series will be made by David Cook; tech will be run by David Cook; any rule disputes will be settled by David Cook.

“I’m just another racer when I’m at the track,” stressed Haney, who also competes in the series with his nitrous-injected 2014 Camaro. “As far as the Mid-West Pro Mod Series is concerned, whatever David Cook says, goes.”

Cook will tackle his new job for the first time Sep. 22-23, when the Mid-West Pro Mod Series competes in Texas at San Antonio Raceway, and then Oct. 13-14, at Tulsa Raceway Park. In addition to all race-day decisions and overseeing track prep for the series, he will be responsible for tech inspections, pairing up MWPMS competitors in the staging lanes and then weighing the cars upon exiting the track after making an official pass.

Haney said Cook also will be available for hire by each host race track as a track prep consultant or to physically prepare the racing surface for the entire event.

“I know most of the guys running with us and I know what they need to go fast,” Cook said. “This is a big opportunity for me and I can’t wait to get started.”